Civil War Book Discussion: March and America’s War anthology – Part One.
7-9 p.m., Jan. 29, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, BI-113E, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. This is a five-part series sponsored in part by the Maryland Humanities Council, in which three books are discussed. Loaner copies of the book are available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the La Plata Campus library. Discussions center around Geraldine Brooks’ book "March" which tells its story through the characters of Louisa May Alcott’s "Little Women" by representing the point of view of the father of the girls in "Little Women," Reverend March. The reader travels with the chaplain into places where he is not wanted, where his values elicit ridicule and contempt. The harsh world of slavery, men and war challenges everything the March family believes in, including one another. Another voice in the first conversation is Louisa May Alcott's, drawn from her experiences as a nurse for the Union in 1862. Alcott tells of her determination to find a purpose for her life by helping the hospitals in Washington, D.C. She experiences horror, satisfaction and deep personal trials during her time with the wounded, ill and dying men. Free. 301-934-7606, or smsc@csmd.edu. 7-9 p.m., Feb. 5, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, BI-113E, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. This is a five-part series sponsored in part by the Maryland Humanities Council, in which three books are discussed. Loaner copies of the book are available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the La Plata Campus library. Discussions continue with the conflict that is presented when the Confederacy and the Union are formed and Americans experience a split in beliefs and loyalties. Abolitionists, including the March family from Louisa May Alcott’s "Little Women," encourage Frederick Douglass to make a speech on their behalf but Douglass gives them more than they asked for by stripping away any illusions white Americans may have had about their innocence, confronting them directly with the hypocrisy of a nation dedicated to freedom and built on slavery. Abraham Lincoln attempts to restore division as he is elected into presidency; Robert E. Lee embodies the agony of disunion and Mark Twain tells of his own wayward path in the confusing early days of the war. Free. 301-934-7606, or smsc@csmd.edu. 7-9 p.m., Feb. 19, Calvert Library Prince Frederick, Meeting Room 1, 850 Costley Way, Prince Frederick. This is a five-part series sponsored in part by the Maryland Humanities Council, in which three books are discussed. Loaner copies of the book are available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the La Plata Campus library. Part three of the discussion series approaches the Battle of Shiloh, which occurred in April 1862, almost exactly a year after Fort Sumter and the secession of Virginia. The battle redefined the boundaries of the military conflict and thousands of men with little training and no experience in war were thrown against one another in days of inexpressible suffering and waste. The war was seen as a desperate, defiant effort by the Confederacy to stop the progress of the Union Army and Navy and shattered any fantasies people had that the war would be won easily by either side. Free. 301-934-7606, or smsc@csmd.edu. Civil War Book Discussion: Crossroads of Freedom and America’s War anthology – Part Four. 7-9 p.m., March 5, College of Southern Maryland, Leonardtown Campus, Building C, Room 216, 22950 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown. This is a five-part series sponsored in part by the Maryland Humanities Council, in which three books are discussed. Loaner copies of the book are available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the La Plata Campus library. In the fourth segment of the discussion series opposing views are offered on the study of Antietam. Neither the Union nor the Confederacy could claim a glorious victory but Civil War historians James McPherson and Gary Gallagher argue sides on a victory. McPherson sides for a Union victory while Gallagher argues on behalf of the strength of the Confederate Army. Drew Gilpin Faust’s excerpt shifts our focus from the course of battle and politics to the suffering of families and communities and asks that we broaden our vision of what took place. Free. 301-934-7606, or smsc@csmd.edu. 7-9 p.m., March 26, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, BI-113E, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. This is a five-part series sponsored in part by the Maryland Humanities Council, in which three books are discussed. Loaner copies of the book are available on a first-come, first-serve basis in the La Plata Campus library. The final conversation focuses on the emancipation of four million people who had been held in slavery for over two centuries. Following the conclusion of the war at Antietam, President Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, allowing Frederick Douglass to rally black men to the defense of the United States because it is now fighting for their freedom. While the Gettysburg Address, given in November 1863, does not speak of slavery directly, its potent language frames the purpose of the war as freedom understood it its broadest terms. After finally being able to enlist, 200,000 African American men joined the service in just two years. Emancipation was not a single event but a long and uneven series of struggles on plantations and farms, in cities and town, all across the South. In a final essay on "Images of the War," America’s War illuminates drawings from artists who were able to see firsthand, army camps in the midst of battle and enabled the public to picture the war as it progressed and to help us make sense of the American Civil War today. Free. 301-934-7606, or smsc@csmd.edu.
Civil War Book Discussion: America’s War anthology – Part Two.
Civil War Book Discussion: America’s War anthology – Part Three.
Civil War Book Discussion: America’s War anthology – Part Five.
Share Your History Day: Working the Land and Water: Saturday, October 20 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Prince Frederick Campus, Room 119
On October 20, 2012, SMSC hosted "Share Your History" Day at the College of Southern Maryland Prince Frederick Campus. Members of the community arrived with farming items from two counties. These materials included photographs, correspondence, bills and receipts.
Friendship House Lecture: The Contact Zone: Europeans, Native Americans and Africans in Early Charles County. 3 p.m., May 5, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, BI-113, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. Dr. Julia King, associate professor of anthropology and coordinator of museum studies, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, discusses the historical landscape of the Wicomico River and Zekiah Swamp drainage. From Allen's Fresh to Waldorf, history often lies just beneath the surface. This presentation presents history through place, including fancy English dwellings, fortified Indian settlements, and frontier households. Guided tours of the Friendship House will be given before and after the lecture. Free. 301-934-7606, or ARichmond@csmd.edu.
Friendship House Lecture: The Study of Clothing of the Colonial Period through the Bits that Survive: Pins, Buttons, Buckles and other Accessories. 6 p.m., May 5, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, BI-113, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. Sara Rivers Cofield, curator of federal collections at the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, discusses the study of clothing of the colonial period from items that have survived over time. The presentation includes artifacts that will be discussed in context using period art and museum object images. Guided tours of the Friendship House will be given before and after the lecture. Free. 301-934-7606, or ARichmond@csmd.edu.
Friendship House Lecture: “Carry Me to Yon Kirk Yard” An Investigation of Changing Burial Practices in the 17th-Century Cemetery at St. Mary’s City. 3 p.m., May 19, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, BI-113, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. Timothy Riordan, chief archaeologist at Historic St. Mary’s City, presents details on the project of 57 burials that were excavated in the 17th-century cemetery at St. Mary’s City. Through a unique combination of structural history of the site and a detailed recording process, the burials are assigned to three 30-year time periods spanning 1638-1730. Riordan will discuss how this data is used to investigate changes in the use and construction of coffins, the function of copper pins and the evolution of hand placement in the burials and how these trends are related to larger changes in English burial practices. Guided tours of the Friendship House will be given before and after the lecture. Free. 301-934-7606, or ARichmond@csmd.edu.
Friendship House Lecture: “A Vain Resistance to an Inevitable Dispensation” Evolution and Dating of the Brick Lined Graves in the Cemetery at Cloverfield, Maryland. 3:30 p.m., May 19, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, BI-113, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. Ruth Mitchell, special project archaeologist at Historic St. Mary’s City, discusses a family-sponsored restoration of the Cloverfield cemetery on the Eastern Shore and how it provided a unique opportunity to study 38 brick graves dating from 1736 to 1884. The dating model created and used for this project is now presented as a tool for use in dating unmarked brick graves. Guided tours of the Friendship House will be given before and after the lecture. Free. 301-934-7606, or ARichmond@csmd.edu.
Friendship House Lecture: Foodways of the Late 17th and Early 18th Centuries. 2:30 p.m., August 11, College of Southern Maryland, La Plata Campus, Center for Business and Industry, Room BI-104, 8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata. Historian Mary Farrar, discusses the general foodways, addressing recipes, methods of cooking, animals breeds of the period, and domestic agriculture and horticulture, of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, with a focus on Chesapeake patterns. Guided tours of the Friendship House will be given before and after the lecture. Free. 301-934-7606, or ARichmond@csmd.edu.
Daughters of the American Revolution, Port Tobacco Chapter Meeting April 21, 2012
On April 21, 2012, SMSC hosted a meeting of the Daughters of the American Revolution Port Tobacco Chapter. The ladies learned about materials in the SMSC and received a tour of the SMSC and Friendship House.
"Share Your History" Day: Religious Life in Southern Maryland March 12, 2011
On March 12, 2011, SMSC hosted "Share Your History" Day at the College of Southern Maryland Leonardtown Campus. Members of the community arrived with religious items spanning four counties. These materials included photographs, correspondence, programs, pamphlets and documented the history of many different religions and houses of worship.
"Share Your Stuff" Day: 20th Century War & Peace in Southern Maryland June 12, 2010
On June 12, 2010, SMSC hosted "Share Your Stuff" Day at the College of Southern Maryland. Several members of the community arrived with wartime memorabilia spanning World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. These materials included letters of correspondence, draft notices, discharge records, photographs, medals, military uniforms, and various records that document individual soldier's experiences during the wars. These materials also reflect the unique experiences of Southern Marylanders.
To help preserve these valuable treasures, SMSC created digital scans of these materials, which can be viewed in our Online Collections Catalog: "Share Your Stuff" Collection
Book Preservation Workshop February 20, 2010
On February 20, 2010, SMSC hosted a Book Preservation Workshop. Participants received hands-on instructions on how to care for their personal book collections including dry-cleaning book pages and covers, storing fragile materials, treating acidic pages, repairing torn or loose pages, and re-casing loose text blocks.